If you’re itching to buy American Indian jewelry or crafts and won’t be able to soon travel Route 66 to the desert Southwest to buy them, you ought to look at getting them by mail order from the Southwest Indian Foundation.
This article by the Associated Press lays out the reasons why:
When Margie Lee’s home on the Navajo Nation was gutted by a fire, she found herself in an unfamiliar spot. Always the caretaker, she now had to look to others for help.
Many of her pleas for food, shelter and clothing for her family went unanswered. But the Southwest Indian Foundation responded, providing $600, enough to put a deposit on utilities and a mobile home that Lee is looking forward to moving into before the holidays.
“At least now I can smile a little,” she said.
The foundation, which has offices along old Route 66 in downtown Gallup in northwestern New Mexico, helps fill a critical need by providing jobs, emergency and social services to American Indian families in a region where unemployment and poverty rates are high.
The foundation relies on donations and endowments but the help that Lee and thousands of other American Indians receive each year is largely a result of holiday catalog sales. Of the $15 million the foundation brings in each year, sales of Native American crafts and jewelry account for two-thirds of that, said Bill McCarthy, chief executive of the foundation. […]
About 1,500 baskets filled with a week of food are given to families, who McCarthy said “would have a meager Christmas at best.”
Stockings filled with candy and toys go out to 3,000 children.
About 200 families receive stoves each year to heat their homes.
I looked over the online catalog’s jewelry and arts sections, and the products look as good as any that I’ve seen in many Indian stores I’ve browsed over the years. The foundation also sells apparel, books and music.
I’ve used the Foundation’s catalog for years to purchase items for myself and for gifts, and I’ve never been disappointed. They also offer a number of unusual CDs of Indian music. Of interest to Route 66 fans is the fact that the Foundation offices (and a large gift shop) are located in the original and beautifully restored railroad station on Route 66 in Gallup. The building features a statue honoring the famous Navajo “code-talkers” of WWII and an exterior neon sign designed by Jerry McClanahan. It’s a must-stop for 66 travelers.